Havre de Grace gearing up for Christmas holiday season

It's Black Friday. I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving holiday, perhaps with lots of friends and relatives. Many folks are now in the turmoil of holiday shopping madness, straight through until Christmas. Friends who work in the retail business reported to work yesterday eve to open stores early to shoppers – lunacy! Happy Black Friday!

Several friends living with HIV asked me to state that Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day. An opportunity to promote AIDS education, this day is also a time to commemorate those whose lives have been lost or affected by AIDS. For more information, see http://www.worldaidsday.org.

On a more historical note, Dec. 1 is known as Rosa Parks Day, when the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott began in 1955. Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger. Led by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. community leaders organized a bus boycott that lasted until 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Alabama's bus segregation laws were unconstitutional.

Grace Place Serving Center will serve a free, hot meal Dec. 3 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John's Episcopal Church, 114 N. Union Ave., 410-939-2107, to anyone in need who come through the doors.

As you plan for Christmas, the Lock House holiday boutique is open Dec. 7, 9 a.m. to 3p.m., and Dec. 8, noon to 6 p.m., and the 41st Candlelight Tour of Homes is Dec. 8, 4 to 8 p.m. Early birds gets tickets for $15 until Dec. 1.

Dec. 15 to 25 is the Susquehanna Ministerium's 15th outdoor nativity scene challenge. Register by calling 410-939-5233 to be recognized for a residential or business award.

St. Patrick's Church has a giving tree in the church vestibule beginning Thanksgiving Day, 615 Congress Ave. Gifts may be placed under the tree or dropped off a the parish office, 410-939-2525. Signup for food donations will be posted on the door in the vestibule. Gift and food donations are due Dec. 15.

The church also delivers Christmas dinner to seniors, shut-ins and anyone in need of a delicious meal on Christmas Day. Volunteers are needed to deliver meals on Christmas Day.

Winter Wonderland is sponsoring meet Santa and Mrs. Claus after the Dec. 6 First Friday Christmas Parade in downtown Havre de Grace. The parade starts at 6 p.m. and meet Santa at Santa Land, 115 N. Washington St., same location as past years, at the conclusion of the parade.

There will also be a pizza with Santa on Saturday, Dec. 7 at LaBanc (St. John Street) from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $1 for a slice of pizza, a drink and a visit with Santa. All family members eating pizza will need a ticket. Tickets are limited to the first 200 and are on sale at Java by the Bay on North Washington Street.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will return to Santa Land on Saturday, Dec. 14 and Saturday Dec. 21 from noon to 1:30 p.m. for his last visits before returning to the North Pole. There will be a drawing for two new bicycles and accessories on Dec. 21.

Also on Dec. 21, the Winter Wonderland group will be touring the town and caroling from 6 to 8 p.m., so listen for the sweet sound of Christmas as we roll through town!

Come down, shop, eat and enjoy the sights and sounds of Havre de Grace during the Holidays and remember what it is like to live in small town America!